Assessing the damage from Francine in Ocean Springs

Aftermath of Hurricane Francine in Jackson County

Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana Wednesday afternoon, bringing many impacts to South Mississippi.

The Fort Bayou Pier at Percy Miller Park was one place that suffered damage from the high tides in the bayou.

Ocean Springs Ward 1 Alderman Jennifer Burgess said, “Makes you really respect the power of water, because it didn’t expect this. So, this finger Pier has been completely uprooted and all the planks are loose and so it’s definitely dangerous and nobody needs to be on it.”

Many residents would go unscathed from Hurricane Francine along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, just leaving behind a few downed trees and lots of rain, but you can kind of see here what that rainwater would do to the Fort Bayou Pier along Percy Miller Park, just leaving behind just a few loose planks, raising the pier a little bit as city officials are now trying to figure out how to put the pieces back together. “We’re going to rope it off and everything. So just, you know, encouraging the residents, or anybody that wants to use the boat launch they can, but to please stay off the finger pier. We’re going to have it closed today and tomorrow,” said Burgess.

There were some other areas of Jackson County that have seen flooding due to Francine, including Beach Boulevard from Southshore Avenue to Westwood Street in Pascagoula.

Over in Gautier and Moss Point, there were reports of a few downed trees.

In Ocean Springs, Alderwoman Burgess says she’s thankful for the swift precautions taken by the city and the minimal damage in her ward from the storm. “I did a drive through early this morning, and other than a tree down, and the boat launch, everybody’s been pretty good. So, neighbors are just picking up small debris in the yard. But our mayor did not hesitate to put everyone in a state of emergency and then we then had several meetings, we were all up to date, all aldermen knew what to do in their ward. We had all our emergency numbers setup. We had public works come out and picked up debris early. I mean we were ready.”

The Aldermen say they anticipate the boat launch opening back up for Saturday and will see if emergency funding will cover the damage.